The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. Originally intended for New York City progressives, its readership is now national. For anyone who wants to be alerted by email whenever this newsletter is updated (usually weekly), please send your email address and let me know what state you live in (so I can keep track of my readership).

Measure A: Santa Clara County Children's Health Protection. Healthy Kids is one of our region's most significant achievements and provides health insurance to all uninsured children who are not eligible for other public programs. Measure A's $29/ year parcel tax will prevent disenrollment in Healthy Kids and ensure all eligible children in the county have access to health insurance and the preventive care they need. VOTE YES.

Measure B: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Our local roads are in need of repair. Adding $10 to the fee for each vehicle registered in the county will enable us to repair potholes, repave and maintain local streets, pay for projects to mitigate congestion and pollution, and increase our access to state and federal matching funds. VOTE YES.

Measure E: Foothill-DeAnza Community College District. Community colleges have never been more important, both as an affordable entry to college and as centers for retraining workers displaced in today's harsh economic times. This six-year $69/year parcel tax would guarantee a stable base of local funding, immune to state budget cuts, ensuring continued access to a quality, affordable education and training for the careers of tomorrow. VOTE YES.

Measure G: San Jose/Evergreen Community College District. This bond measure would fund construction of energy efficient, technology-driven teaching classrooms and labs; upgrade outdated plumbing and electrical systems; and make needed repairs throughout existing facilities. These upgrades and repairs are crucial to meeting the increased demands on our local community colleges. VOTE YES.

Measure I: East Side Union High School District -East Side Union High School District. A six-year, $98/year parcel tax would provide funds to retain and attract teachers and support staff, increase student access to science, math and core academic classes required for college admission, and ensure continued funding for art, music and athletics. VOTE YES.

Measure J: Franklin-McKinley School District. This bond measure would fund much-needed repairs and upgrades to current facilities by modernizing classrooms and replacing old roofs, plumbing and electrical systems, and increasing energy efficiency. VOTE YES.

Measure M: City of Campbell Business License Tax. This measure would raise the business license tax, set in 1982, by $50 (limiting annual cost-of-living adjustments to 2%) to maintain and protect city services. VOTE YES.

Measure N: City of Campbell Transient Occupancy Tax. To avoid deep cuts in city services, this proposal would increase the existing tax charged to hotel guests from 10% to 12%. VOTE YES.

Measure O: City of Campbell (Clerk and Treasurer). Currently, only two cities in Santa Clara County elect their City Clerk and Treasurer. Making these offices appointive, as this measure provides, would enable the city council to set professional criteria for the jobs and potentially consolidate these positions, saving thousands of dollars in salaries and benefits as well as the cost of periodically placing these positions on the ballot. VOTE YES.

Measure P: City of Morgan Hill (Clerk and Treasurer) Currently, only two cities in Santa Clara County elect their City Clerk and Treasurer. Making these offices appointive, as this measure provides, would enable the city council to set professional criteria for the jobs and potentially consolidate these positions, saving thousands of dollars in salaries and benefits as well as the cost of periodically placing these positions on the ballot. VOTE YES.

Measure S: City of Palo Alto Consolidate Elections to Even Years. Consolidating the city election cycle with county and state elections will help reduce the city's election costs. VOTE YES.

Measure T: City of Mountain View Utility Users Tax. This measure would update the cityâ€™s Utility Users Tax to apply to both older and newer telecommunication technology. The existing rate of 3% would not be increased. The tax would not apply to Internet access, e-mail, video programming or digital downloads. VOTE YES.

Measure U: City of San Jose Marijuana Tax. Funding for city services like emergency response, libraries, pothole repair, and youth and senior programs would get a boost from this measure authorizing a tax of up to 10% on gross receipts from marijuana businesses in San Jose. VOTE YES.

Measure V: City of San Jose Arbitration. This measure places limits on binding arbitration for police and firefighters. VOTE NO.

Proposition 19: California Democratic Party is NEUTRAL on the intiative to legalize Cannabis.

Proposition 20: This initiative expands the Prop 11 redistricting commission to include Congressional districts. Funded largely by a Republican billionaire, this measure could cost Democrats seats in the House of Representatives, weakening our ability to fight an increasingly radical Republican Party. VOTE NO.

Proposition 21: The state parks initiative, authored by former Assemblyman John Laird, raises the vehicle license fee by $18, keeping all parks open at restored hours, reducing the maintenance backlog, and allowing all Californians with a registered vehicle to get into any park free of charge. VOTE YES.

Proposition 22: This measure would prevent the state from borrowing funds used for transportation, redevelopment or local government projects, even during severe fiscal hardship. While local governments bristle at state raids on local coffers, this bill would effectively divert a large chunk of funding for education and other essential state services toward local redevelopment agencies. VOTE NO.

Proposition 24: This initiative closes corporate tax loopholes that add at least $1.7 billion annually to the budget deficit. According to the League of Women Voters, "These tax breaks primarily benefit larger, multi-state businesses, and appear to have gone primarily to very large, profitable businesses." At a time when schools, healthcare and public safety are being cut to the bone, California doesn't need to give away billions to wealthy corporations. VOTE YES.

Proposition 25: Restoring majority rule for the state budget process is crucial to getting our state moving again. Prop 25 replaces the current two-thirds requirement for passing the state budget and related bills with a simple majority. Passing this ballot measure means that Californians will no longer be held hostage by an intransigent minority. We cannot afford to let this one fail. VOTE YES.

Proposition 26: The exact opposite of Prop 25, Prop 26 would require a two-thirds majority for fees, levies and other potential revenues that now require a simple majority. The last thing our state needs now is another buckle on the budget straitjacket. Just as Prop 25 must pass, Prop 26 must fail. VOTE NO.

Proposition 27: This proposition would eliminate the Prop 11 Redistricting Commission entirely. The current commission is overwhelmingly white, male and wealthy - hardly a representative group of Californians. Redistricting would again fall to the hands of the legislature, which is elected by the voters to make these kinds of decisions. VOTE YES.

Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley - a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates the homes of low-income elderly and disabled homeowners, free of charge, so that they may live in warmth, safety, and independence. Rebuilding Together mobilizes skilled and unskilled volunteers and utilizes donated materials to complete the repairs. They have recently introduced a green initiative that focuses on completing energy efficiency upgrades and repairs for these homeowners, including CFL installation, Energy Star appliances upgrades, caulking and weatherstripping, and window and door replacements.

EPA’s Green Home Website – Whether you are a homeowner or a renter, in the market for a new home, or making home improvements, this Web site identifies the key environmental and energy issues at hand, and suggests solutions that will add value to your home, reduce energy use and energy costs, fight climate change, and help protect your health.

Build It Green Website It’s non-profit organization with a mission to promote healthy, energy- and resource-efficient homes in California. They have great reources and “Search the Product Directory” to conveniently locate suppliers of green building products within the 9-County San Francisco Bay Area.

PG&E Website Rebate Section. Thinking of buying new appliances or equipment? Remodeling or upgrading your home? Don’t make a step without checking out the PG&E website for an incredible variety of savings in the form of rebates.

Time for all progressives to speak out. The right wing yammers on and on to the media, often spreading lies. If we speak out more, with passion and honesty, we will beat them more and more. Here is a resource from the Silicon Valley Democrats for calling into talk radio to express your opinions. They include phone numbers for local and national radio shows as well as tips for how to effectively express yourself. If you don't speak out about things you care about, the right wing extremists will and they will win.

MARRIAGE EQUALITY SILICON VALLEY is a grassroots effort, organized by volunteers in the Silicon Valley/San Jose/South Bay area, to educate, unite and mobilize all communities for equality.

Each month, on a Sunday, which might vary depending on other events, the Outreach to Religious and Youth Communities Group holds a potluck evening. We meet at 6 pm in someone's home for a shared meal. At 6:30 pm, we view an inspiring film which focuses on LGBT issues. After the movie, we discuss current and future actions to promote education and support for marriage equality. Open to everyone. For more information, contact Ray Hixson at (650) 346-7557 or Joanne Loomba at (408) 921-0041.

Biodiesel: Biodiesel is an American produced fuel that is cleaner than traditional diesel. Up to B20 (a 20% blend of biodiesel and traditional diesel) any diesel engine, car or truck, can run on it. Above B20, some older engines may have problems but newer diesel engines should be ok. Here are some gas stations in the Silicon Valley area that offer biodiesel:

Silicon Valley Young Democrats. SVYD serves Democrats under 36 years old from throughout the Silicon Valley. We provide networking, social, and personal growth opportunities for young people dedicated to progressive ideals.

Obama Democratic Club of Silicon Valley. A club of volunteers from the 2008 Barack Obama campaign and local arm of Organizing for America. Members of this club will continue to promote Obama's policies and priorities. Peter Allen, President, obama_at_sccdp.org. sites.google.com/site/obamadcsv/

Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club. SVAPADC was founded in 1996 to foster member participation at all levels of the Democratic Party. Our goals are to unify and empower the Asian Pacific American (APA) communities; ensure fair representation of the APA's interests; and educate and promote political participation. Contact Buu Thai at apa_at_sccdp.org. The club's homepage is svapadc.org.

Silicon Valley Latino Democratic Forum. A venue for local Latinos to become active in the Democratic Party. Javier Gonzalez, svldf_at_sccdp.org.

Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club. Dedicated to providing a grassroots channel for the political participation of like-minded lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Democrats. President: David Parker, lgbt_at_sccdp.org. Visit the club on the web at http://www.lgbtdems.org.

Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley. The Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley is an alliance in Silicon Valley, California dedicated to the issues brought forth by Gov. Howard Dean, M.D., his cause and his message of progressive, positive change. dfasv.org, www.dfalink.com/siliconvalley, Co-Chairs; Spandan Chakrabarti, Alice Smith. Contact deanclub_at_sccdp.org

SILICON VALLEY AREA FOOD CO-OPS: These are the only ones I could find near Silicon Valley, though they are all somewhat peripheral

The Kresge Food Coop is a student-run cooperative health food store located at Kresge College on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus. We currently consist of twelve Core Collective Members who own the coop and are responsible for its daily operations and for any number of working members. This page has been created in order to better serve our community. Through this page you can email the coop, learn about our Core Collective Members, sign up to be a working member, make suggestions, check sales, read and reread our newsletter, and browse our links to other coops and health food stores.

The Cooperative Grocery—The CoG—is a non-profit, working members cooperative that offers high-quality groceries at an affordable price to individuals and families in our community.

Members of The CoG work 2 1/2 hours every 4 weeks, performing jobs like stocking shelves, building orders and providing member services. By providing much of the labor for the store, our members keep our operating costs to a minimum. We then pass the savings onto our members in the form of lower prices. Our model is based on the successful Park Slope Food Co-Op in Brooklyn, NY, which serves 13,000 members.

To further control costs and grow our co-op in a responsible manner, we launched the CoG as an online store that is served from a warehouse located in Emeryville, with easy access to communities in Berkeley and Oakland. Our long term plan is to build a retail business as finances allow.

We have been in San Francisco's Mission District since 1975. We strive to offer resources, education and a forum for informational exchange for many local communities and organizations.

Rainbow Grocery is open every day from 9AM to 9PM

We are located in San Francisco's Mission District at 1745 Folsom Street. Our cross street is 13th Street (also known as Duboce), which runs directly under the central freeway. Use the map below for directions by car. Click here for Public Transit directions. Click here for bicycling directions.